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Where your mind is suddenly delighted,
There significance will be;
Where things have come from nature,
You will see true charm.
Where even a portion has been interposed or arranged,
Its flavor quickly declines!
Po Chu-i said,
The mind is at peace when without events;
The wind is clear when it gathers of its own.
Do these not contain true flavor, these words?
*Hung Ying-ming [Chinese philosopher, b.1572). Master of the Three Ways: Reflections of a Chinese Sage on Living a Satisfying Life. P. 150. Trans. and Notes, William Scott Wilson. Shambhala. Kindle Edition.
*The "Three Ways," Chan Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism. "Po Chu-i" (practiced Chan Buddhism, Taoism; b. 772), one of most beloved Chinese poets.
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As you grow spiritually, your heart-mind will become more receptive to subtle truth, wisdom. You will bodily feel spontaneous energy when you meet truth. A joyful energy, not necessarily pronounced. So, "suddenly delighted." Hence, "significance."
The arising is from living truth, not agreement or preference, not fact or concept. The word "l-o-v-e" is, for example, a go-between of truth, even as the "g-r-a-c-e" or "G-o-d" are. A physical gesture or the whole body-mind can be such a means, too. Hence, words, gestures, bodies, and so much more can be sacramental or skillful means.
Hence, we can speak of truth as "inspiring" or "inspiring truth." You continue to read, listen, and talk to correlate the symbol system of letters-words-sentences and gestures as conveyers of subtle wisdom.
Consequently, the poet writes, "Do these not contain true flavor, these words?" His poem is not intruded upon by artificiality. His verse corresponds to the naturalness of nature. Hence, "true flavor." True flavor inspires us, transports the mind-heart to a more subtle consciousness, a more expansive openness.
Then, what do we do? By passing transportations to the more-sublte, our embodied presence becomes more attuned and porous of this same more-subtle. This true flavor speaks of becoming more authentic, which means more natural.
You become more the true flavor. Hence, some persons will feel threatened by you and, so, distracted from you. They will not know why. Other persons will feel drawn to you, attracted to you, for the true flavor in them resonates with the same in you. They may or may not be aware of the why.
Being the true flavor, you encourage others, even without saying anything, to unite more with this true flavor, to keep becoming it by being it. Others more this true flavor enourage you, likewise. This is subtle and true.
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*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2024
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